Growth of the bicycle industry has produced exciting and new bicycles for example in both the mountain bike, and road racing fields as well as designs specifically for sprinting and for triathlon events. With new materials and advancing manufacturing technologies now available for manufacturing bicycle frames, new bicycle frames are often incompatible with the known conventional kickstands which support a bike by attachment of the kickstand adjacent the cranks and bottom bracket of a conventional bicycle. As is known in the art, a conventional kickstand has a mounting plate which is bolted or affixed in one manner or another between the rear chain stays of the bicycle frame in the middle of the bike frame adjacent the bottom bracket of the frame. A one piece elongate extension is springably hinged to the mounting plate and can be manually moved, i.e. usually by kicking with the foot, relative to the mounting plate and bicycle frame between a supporting position for engaging the ground and supporting the bicycle in an upright manner, and a stowed position, where the rod or tube retracts and rotates about the spring hinge to lie substantially parallel and slightly spaced from the rear chain stays. As such conventional kickstands are known, no further description is provided in this regard.
Many new bicycle frames for example carbon fiber frames do not have such a conventional rear chain stay design and thus cannot support these conventionally known kickstands. The most distinctive feature of such new bicycle frames are their unique geometry, size, tubing types, welding or glue methods, design integrity, fit, flex and rigidity, weight and cable routing. Because of the geometry size and tubing types there are many variables which go into a modern frame. There are different types of tubing to be used for the frame for example steel, aluminum, titanium, carbon fiber and plastic. Each type of tubing has its own advantages and disadvantages. The choice of tubing type will end on the particular needs of the rider. Furthermore, in mountain biking, road racing, sprint races and triathlons, lowering the weight of the overall bicycle by foregoing a kickstand is a significant consideration. Also, such conventional kickstands are on one hand considered by racers and triathletes as entirely uncool, and more importantly on the other hand can interfere with operation of the bicycle function especially in extreme racing conditions and rough environments.
Due to the nature of bicycle racing, triathlons and mountain biking events for example where lower weight and strict functionality are demanded by athletes, conventional kickstands are not a basic feature of many contemporary bicycles. As a result most, if not all new bikes are made and sold without a kickstand or other type of independent supporting mechanism that can support the bicycle in an upright position. However these bikes tend to be fairly expensive and without a kickstand a user must support their bicycle against a tree, fence or a car for example in many instances. Often this is a precarious situation so the user lays the bicycle on the ground where it is a hazard to others, can get dirty or be damaged. In the absence of a kickstand, there is no simple, safe way to support a bicycle in the absence of a dedicated work stand or bicycle rack however these things are not always readily available when one dismounts the bike.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,591,180 to Coppel shows a portable bicycle stand for supporting a bicycle. The stand is designed to permit its removal from the bicycle when not in use. The bicycle stand includes an elongated support leg having at a first end a cooperating finger and thumb adapted to detachably mount the support leg to the bicycle frame in a support position wherein a second opposite end of the support leg engages the ground to support the bicycle in a generally upright orientation. Intermediate its first and second ends, the support leg further has a pair of aligned storage facilitating arms which, in cooperation with the support leg itself, are adapted to detachably mount the support leg on the bicycle frame in a second storage position. The drawbacks with this apparatus are that it can only be used on a conventional frame geometry having a pair of rear chain stays adjacent the bicycle cranks and bottom bracket and also that the storage position on the frame is a highly unsecure position. Advances in bicycle construction including material composites, tubing shapes, and frame designs have rendered the Coppel design incompatible with many modern bicycles. Further, none of the known references disclose a support stand for a bicycle wherein the support can be effectively and securely magnetically attached and easily detached, collapsed and stored when the bike is placed into use.